Deutschland Ruft Mich An

Germany Calling

I've posted a number of writings about the dramatization of Henning Mankell's Wallander character on Swedish television -- programs which have only become available for English-speaking audiences in the past two years.

One of the posts was about Johanna Sällström, the actress who played Wallander's daughter, Linda. I had begun watching the series on local television here in San Francisco in 2009 -- only to find out later, very sadly, that Sällström had committed suicide in 2007.

Since, I've received perhaps thirty to fifty hits a day to that article, mostly people searching on Sällström's name or looking for a photograph of her (of which my post had a number). All of the hits are from Europe, primarily Sweden and Scandinavia, but also Germany and England.

It's been consistent, day in and out -- a bit like watching people search for references to Marilyn Monroe, and it's a testament to Sällström's ability as an actress as much as her finally being pulled down by the undertow of Depression.

Today, however, over a period of an hour (13:30 - 14:30 PST), I received 405 separate hits to the Sällström article. All of the traffic was from Google.de, and I have no idea why four hundred people in Germany were moved to look at that post so suddenly. A funny place, the Intertubes.

Aber für mein Deutscher Leser, ein herzlich willkommen. Bitte leeren Sie den Abfallbehälter und geh'n die Lichter aus, bevor Sie verlassen. Und sag 'hallo' zu Berlin für mich!

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